There are many things in this world that could produce two very different reactions among those of us sitting here today.  For instance, if I said “Toronto Maple Leafs,” some of you would get all excited about your favourite team, while others would get angry because of how the front office runs the organization, and how miserable the team has been.  If I said the word “money,” some of you might smile to think about the blessings of using money for good purposes, while others might have a negative reaction, thinking about financial struggles.

If I said “technological advances,” some of you might get excited with all the possibilities that improved medicine, computers, and communications bring, while others might get uncomfortable with the fact the world is moving too fast, and maybe developing some technologies that are going to be harmful.  Or how about the word taxes.  In ten days, taxes are due.  For those of you getting refunds, you might be happy when you think of taxes.  For those of you paying out, or stressed by the deadline because you aren’t done, it might not.

The point is: some things in life generate two very different reactions.  But the biggest one, the most universal of all subjects that create two opposing reactions, is the Word of God.  Specifically, the message in verse 3 of our text.  That Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour promised for the world, who had to suffer and die for all of our sins, and rise again from the dead to give us eternal life with God.  No matter where we are in this world, that statement is going to be a dividing line, causing two very different reactions, because it turns the world upside down!

The first reaction upon hearing Jesus died for your sins and rose again to be your Saviour is to Start a Riot in Rebellion Against It because It Turns your World Upside Down!  While Paul was preaching in Thessalonica that Jesus was the promised Messiah of the OT, and some pretty influential people in town were being persuaded by the Holy Spirit to believe his message, some of the Jewish leaders became furious!  Paul’s Spirit-guided persuasiveness was showing them that their understanding of the OT was wrong.  And this infuriated them!

So the Thessalonians rounded up some gangsters from the marketplace, formed an angry mob, and started a riot!  We can’t prove Paul’s message wrong, and deep down we know it is probably right, but it means our world would be turned upside down, so let’s make him look bad and use brute force to remove him!  Well, they trail him to Jason’s house, don’t find him there, so haul Jason and his friends to court, and complain, “these men who have caused trouble all over the world [literally “turned the world upside down”] have now come here!” (v.6).  They were so concerned with their understanding of Scripture, following ceremonial laws to be right with God, and being the ones in charge of teaching those things.  A suffering and dying Messiah like Jesus as their only way to heaven couldn’t possibly be right!  That would change everything!

You know, there were right about one thing.  The message of Jesus Christ does turn our world upside down.  A little girl was once asked if she could recite the books of the NT, and she said, “Sure.  It begins with Matthew, and ends with Revolution.”  Her slip of the tongue was right, wasn’t it?  Once we hear about Christ, things are never the same.

And friends, I think we sometimes have this same reaction – rebelling against it because it turns our world upside down.  But you might say, “Pastor, we haven’t formed any riots and hauled people to court for teaching about Jesus!  In fact we come here to learn about Jesus and want others to hear about Him too!”  Yeah, but what about the parts where God calls us to submit to Him, to Jesus, to give up everything for Him?  That believing in Jesus means He is our highest priority – above our jobs, our recreation, our friends, and even our family!  What about the part where trusting in Jesus as my Saviour means that I have to admit I have completely failed God?  I have to stop pretending I’m greater than I really am and rely on Him alone?
 
What about the part where following Jesus means living selflessly, loving my enemies, swallowing my pride?  What about the part where believing in Jesus means that now I have different priorities?  Church is not optional, it’s a must!  Bible study isn’t something to drag myself to once a week, it’s something I can’t wait to dig into every day!  And when I am read  God’s Word, I have to forget all my preconceived notions of who I think God is and what He’s done, and listen to Him tell me who He is and what He’s done, and accept it because He says it.

Friends, can we be honest for a moment, and admit, that even though we haven’t started a full-blown riot, we have rebelled against God’s message of Jesus Christ and what that should mean in our life every day?  And yet, that message, at its very heart and center, brings us the greatest joy and comfort we could ever hope for.  It’s kind of silly that we rebel against it because we would rather do things our own way, isn’t it?

It’s kind of silly that we wouldn’t always take listening to God seriously.  A little boy was playing with his blocks when his father entered the room. “Quiet, dad, I’m building a church.” The father, thinking that he would test his son along the lines of religious knowledge, said, “Why do we want to be quiet at church?” “We have to, because the people are sleeping.”  Well, that’s one reaction to the message of Jesus’ work for us…

Here’s the other:  To Receive it with Eagerness and Examine It Daily.  A young man came to his father with the question, “Dad, is the moon really made out of green cheese?” The father, busy with his newspaper, replied, “Go read the Bible and see.” Soon the boy was back with the answer: “It isn’t made out of green cheese, Dad.” Interested now, the father asked, “How do you know it isn’t?" “Because the Bible says God made the moon the fourth day and that He didn’t make cows until the sixth day.” Wouldn’t it be great if we checked out everything in life with scripture?  That is, if we compared everything with what the Word of God says?

That’s what the Bereans did.  After Paul and Silas were run out of Thessalonica, they went to the next town, 50 miles away, called Berea.  And without hesitation, they began teaching about Jesus Christ again.  But the Bereans, our text says, “were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”  And many of them, Jews and Greeks, men and women, including influential leaders, were brought to faith by the Holy Spirit through the Word!

The city of Berea embodied the other kind of reaction people can have when they hear that Jesus died and rose for them.  They got excited!  They didn’t let the fact that it would turn their world upside down get in their way of trusting this wonderful good news!  They believed it.  And examined it every day and studied it.  And they compared everything Paul was preaching to see if it matched the promises in the Old Testament, which they knew was the Word of God.  And as they saw it did, their lives were changed!

Friends, can we follow the example of the Bereans?  First - Receive the message of Jesus Christ with eagerness and examine it every day!  You and I need to be in our Bibles every day!  Are you?  How will we ever have courage to step out in life and live for God through all our challenges if we aren’t strengthened by a daily diet of his Word?  How can we really believe in God if we aren’t connecting ourselves to the source He gives us to strengthen our faith?  Get into his Word.  By yourself.  With others.  There, in scripture, is the greatest news we could ever find!  Forgiveness through Jesus!  Even forgiveness for neglecting his Word!

The second way we follow the example of the Bereans is by letting God’s Wordbe the standard that judges everything we hear…  Now, just because I have a microphone and a pulpit doesn’t mean that everything that comes out of my mouth up here is infallible.  I am a human being.  I can say things that aren’t right – even in my sermons.  Or I can say things that are right – but they aren’t understood correctly.  If you believe I say something that does not match up with Scripture, please question me about it!  Let’s find out what the Word says!

What this means is that I want you to listen to God!  Church isn’t for sleeping. The Bible is full of passages that talk about challenging false teachers, and ensuring they don’t divert people from the truth.  We are called to “test the spirits,” to discern that what people are saying matches up with what God is saying!  Those who lived in the town of Berea were called noble because they examined the scriptures to check the apostle Paul was really speaking the truth.

So please, read your Bibles!  This is how you can fine-tune your filters!  This is how you test the spirits.  Read his Word prayerfully, asking God what He is saying to us.  Read it with the Bereans’ attitude of receiving it with joy and eagerness!  As you do, the Holy Spirit will lead you in truth.  And then if you hear me say something that doesn’t seem to fit with scripture, don’t just let it go, because I am the pastor.  Bring it up with me.  Let’s check the Bible out!

But don’t just do it with me.  Do it with anyone you listen to who’s speaking about God.  There are people all over the radio and TV teaching about God.  And you need to test it all, because it is garbage if it doesn’t agree with God’s Word.  There are plenty of false teachings Christians seem to be falling for.  For example, there is the Prosperity Gospel.  This says that if you’re a really good Christian, God will reward you financially.  He’ll reward you really well if you give lots of money to the church. 

That’s a lie. 

There’s another teaching that says if you get prayed for by a certain person in a certain way, you will be healed of all your physical and spiritual ailments.  And if you aren’t, it is because you don’t have enough faith. 

That’s a lie. 

But don’t take my word for it.  Find out for yourselves.  No matter how convincing the preachers sound, or how persuasive their message, you won’t find those teachings in the Bible.  Don’t fall for lies.  Don’t be afraid to question what you hear.  Compare it to the Word of God!

A little boy saw his father use a square to see if a board he was planing was straight. “Why are you so careful, Daddy?” asked the boy. “We can’t guess in carpenter work,” his dad said. “You have to be just right. People guess at too many things. God does not like that way of living.” “I guess there are no squares for living by,” said the boy. “Yes, there are squares to live by, and you will find them in the Bible. Test all that you do by them, and you go straight in life, my boy.” God has given us His Word as a “square” to live by! So that we’ll know what is right and what is wrong and live by what is right.  And more importantly, God has given us His Word so that we can know Jesus and be saved eternally!

That’s the best part of the Word!  The comforting message of Jesus Christ!  The refreshing, life-giving Living Water that Jesus died and rose again and because of that we are going to heaven!  When we are in the Word daily, we will be refreshed with this good news constantly!  We will be in a Place of Many Waters. 

Which, by the way… is what “Berea” means.

Gipsy Smith told of a man who said he received no inspiration from the Bible although he had "gone through it several times." "Let it go through you once," replied Smith, "then you will tell a different story!"  Friends, let the scripture go through you just one time and you will be a different person! Why is that? Because all scripture is from God and it’s alive and powerful! The Bereans were said to be more noble in the sight of God. And if there is a way to do this, it is by hearing the Word of God, receiving it joyfully, examining it and passing it on!  Will you and I do this? 

Then, like Berea, we can be a “place of many waters.”   Amen.